A Hampshire hardware store has denied press reports that a customer who went in to buy a fly swat was asked to produce proof of her age.
According to the Daily Mail and Southern Daily Echo, a shop assistant in Romsey Home Hardware told 33-year-old Nicola Butcher that the 99p plastic swat was an offensive weapon and that Mrs Butcher would have to prove she was over 18 before being allowed to purchase it.

The reports claimed that a warning sign came up on the till, alerting the employee that the swat was classed as dangerous. Anyone wanting to buy one would therefore have to produce a driving licence or passport as identification.

"I thought she was having a laugh but she invited me round the other side of the till to show me the screen," Mrs Butcher told the Daily Mail.

"We were both laughing and joking but she asked if I had my driving licence or passport on me, which I thought was ridiculous.

"How can an innocent plastic fly swat be an offensive weapon? What is the world coming to when you can't buy a fly swat without producing ID for it?"

Assistant store manager Lindsey Waude is reported as saying that the situation could have arisen out of an error on the till system.

However, Romsey Home Hardware director Dave Wagg told diyweek.net that the media reports were wrong. "It's not actually what happened; elements of the story are not true," he said, adding: "I'm not prepared to make any statement on it."

Hardware stores need have no worries about selling fly swats to anyone of any age. However, it is illegal to sell a knife or blade of any kind, including cutlery, kitchen knives and axes, to anyone under 18 as they are classed as offensive weapons.

Customers wanting to buy adult fireworks and sparklers must also be over 18, and it is illegal for a store to sell volatile substances/solvents to anyone under 18 if the assistant believes they will be used for intoxification.

The sale of aerosol paint, party poppers and similar low-hazard, low-noise fireworks requires the customer to be 16 and over and Christmas crackers cannot legally be sold to anyone under 12.

The penalties for almost all offences are a £5,000 fine and up to six months' imprisonment.